There was a situation in the early days of Islam that was similar to today, where a certain group of extremist people thought they had the religious justification to kill those whom they deemed sinful and out of the fold of Islam.

12/13/15

Changing States of the Heart

Because of its changes of state, the heart is sometimes like the Beloved's drunken eyes. From the
ecstatic integration of oneness, and presence [with God], and witnessing [God's grandeur], it
then becomes hung-over in the 'ruined' states of the world of fragmentation and multiplicity.

11/15/15

The Transformed Recognize Each Other

The gnostics appear in this world as if they were in worldly forms, by reason of its [apparent] effect on them, but God has transformed them inwardly into their other-worldly state, without a doubt. [Veiled] in their forms, they remain unknown except to one whose inner sight God has uncovered to perceive [spiritual reality], nor may anyone know God in His Self-manifestation except he be in his other-worldly form.

11/1/15

Mercy, The Self and Khasiyyat

At the morning zikr I explained how God describes Himself as Arham ur-Rahimin, the Most Compassionate of the Compassionate. His profound compassion can be witnessed in the expansive states of the zikr where He reveals the signs of His love, and the direct experience of one aspect or another of His Divine Qualities.
In the Qur'an we have, at the simplest level, a psychology based on three conditions of the self [psyche and nafs both mean the 'self'].
Kabir asks me to speak more about the psychology of 'khasiyyat', which is the particular character of each person resulting from his or her specific relationship to one or more of the Divine Names.

10/18/15

Transcending Self-Regard

In Sufism, we turn to God with supplication and need. Our earthly soul observes its own weakness and dependence on God's grace. This is how we begin zikr and prayer. After a time of this, however, we should also let go of such supplication because it will become a barrier to our completely transcending self-regard.

10/4/15

Taubah

In spiritual work, taubah means turning toward our sacred inner nature to find the strength to turn away from actions that lead to suffering. This turning gives birth to the self of conscience, called in Arabic, nafs-i lawwama.

9/20/15

Creed of Love

Everyone is different and each person has a different relationship to the Divine Names. What is fairly standard is that people’s egotism prevents them from experiencing intimacy.
This is why the Sufis stress love, including worldly love. As soon as there is any genuine love, it modifies and lessens egotism.

8/23/15

The Universe is the Mirror for the Perfect Human

Truly, the mirror and locus of manifestation of the Real is the human reality which is the comprehensive gathering of all of the physical and spiritual levels. The universe, simply put, is the mirror for the Perfect Human, because the universe is the detailed deployment of what is inherent in the Perfect Human.

8/9/15

Omar Khayyam, Malamati

Omar Khayyam's quatrains, his rubaiyyat, became immensely popular in Europe and the United States thanks to Edward FitzGerald's translation of them into English in the second half of the 19th century.

3/29/15

Watching For Signs

From this we can understand that we should be watching for God's signs, in both the world outside of us, and within our thoughts, emotions, and our visions of the imagination.

3/15/15

Renewing Faith in Each Breath

[Shabistari] writes, "At every moment renew your faith [in selflessness]." In other words, since the ego is in each moment fantasizing unworthy actions and qualities, and desires to cast you into egotism and hypocrisy's perdition, you must in each breath and moment negate and shun those bad fantasies and futile actions...

3/1/15

Spirit and the Patience of Yosuf Mosammem

May Yosuf Jan be held in the Divine Ocean of Mercy. Yosuf Jan was steadfast in patience with his condition and striving for God's grace. He will remain for us an example of untiring devotion to Allah despite illness and pain.

1/18/15

Changing States

In fact, it is only when we commit to performing invocation and meditation that we discover just how much the mind roams from one experience to another.

1/4/15

Confronting One's Own Negativities

Discussing the ongoing issue of dealing with our own negativities. The Qur'an uses a tripartite division of the 'self' or 'soul' to describe a person's relationship to True Reality.